The Ratlam-Akola gauge conversion derailed

14 Feb, 2012

In a reply to an application under the RTI act, the Railway authorities have informed that till 13th January 2012, the Railways have spent only Rs. 54.80 crore on Ratlam-Akola gauge conversion project. In the past four budgets, an amount of Rs.142.95 crore had been reported to have been sanctioned while it appears that just one third of this amount has been spent on the project so far.

The gauge conversion of 685.75 km long Ratlam-Mhow-Khandwa-Akola was sanctioned in the year 2008-09 at an estimated cost of 1421.25 crore. The conversion of the meter gauge line between Ratlam and Khandwa into broad gauge will connect the city of Indore directly to the southern part of the country on the railway map. It would also reduce distance between Indore and Mumbai by 100 km on Khandwa-Bhusawal-Manmad-Mumbai route.